We have now officially sold every kid born this year other than the two doe kids (Itty Bitty & Choc-o-latte) that we intend to keep.   And despite numerous inquiries they are NOT going to be for sale either.  Sorry.

Hazel, pictured here getting her lunchtime bottle from Bekah, will be going to the same home as her 3/4 sister Misty (Rita's doe kid) tomorrow morning.

We hardly got a chance to get to know Millie's quads before three of them moved to their new homes.   But I am happy that they, along with Rita's two have all found good homes.    Bekah is a little disappointed as she was looking forward to feeding bottle babies.   However, for me that means once less thing to try to squeeze into a busy summer schedule.

Millie and her foursome are all doing well this morning and the babies all had full tummies when I checked.   They weren't real thrilled to be moved from their snuggle pile so I could get some pictures in the daylight but you can't really see that the darker doe kid is actually a rich dark chocolate color (like her sire's dam) except in good light.   That dark color really make her blue eyes stand out.   And her sister is equally beautiful.   It is going to be so hard to choose between them!

Shortly before 5pm this evening Millie finally got down to business and out popped a very tiny buck kid.   Next up was a much larger kid that was a complete breech.   Had to help that blue-eyed girl into this world quickly, but Millie was a trooper and she is a very healthy and vigorous doe kid.   

After Millie downed nearly two quarts of molasses water and taking a short break blue-eyed kid #3 made his colorful appearance.    And finally just when I was starting to think that was it, a lovely doeling rounded out the quartet.   These are the FIRST quads born here on the ranch.

Millie is always such a good mother and is taking excellent care of all her babies.   The littlest needed some help from a bottle but once he got a little colostrum in his belly he figured out how to get it straight from the tap.

We plan to retain one doeling for our herd, now the hard part is going to be choosing which doeling that is going to be. 

Day 144 for Millie today and she is doing her best to keep the does code of honor.   After a night of "sleeping" in the barn (the cot collapsed at 4am!) I am nearly at the "babbling fool" status.   And just in case you aren't familiar with the code here it is:

Does Code of Honor

The doe’s secret code of honor is as old as goats themselves and is ultimately the species best kept secret. No doe shall ever kid before it’s time. (It’s time being determined by the following factors):

 1- No kid shall be born until total chaos has been reached by all involved. Your owner’s house must be a wreck, their family hungry and desperate for clean clothes, and their social life nonexistent.

 2- “Midwives” must reach the babbling fool status before you kid out. Bloodshot eyes, tangled hair and the inability to form a sentence mean the time is getting close.

 3- For every bell, beeper, camera or whistle they attach to you, kidding must be delayed by at least one day for each item. If they use an audio monitor, one good yell per hour will keep things interesting.

 4- If you hear the words, “She’s nowhere near ready. She’ll be fine while we’re away for the weekend,” Wait until they load the car, then begin pushing!

 5- Owner stress must be at an all time high! If you are in the care of someone else, ten to fifteen phone calls a day is a sign you’re getting close.

 6- When you hear the words “I can’t take it anymore!” wait at least three more days.

 7 -You must keep this waiting game interesting. False alarms are mandatory! Little teasers such as looking at your stomach, pushing your food around in the bucket and then walking away from it, and nesting, are always good for a rise. Be creative and find new things to do to keep the adrenaline pumping in those who wait.

 8- The honor of all goats is now in your hands. Use this time to avenge all of your barn mates. Think about your friend who had to wear that silly costume in front of those people. Hang onto that baby for another day. OH, they made him do tricks too! Three more days seems fair. Late feedings, the dreaded diet, bad haircuts, those awful wormings can also be avenged at this time.

 9- If you have fulfilled all of the above and are still not sure when to have the kids, listen to the weather forecast on the radio that has been so generously provided by those who wait. Severe storm warning is what you’re waiting for. In the heart of the storm jump into action! The power could go out and you could have the last laugh. You have a good chance of those who wait missing the whole thing while searching for a flashlight that works!

 10- Make the most of your interrupted nights. Beg for food each time someone comes into the barn to check you. Your barn mates will love you as the extra goodies fall their way too.

 Remember, this code of honor was designed to remind man of how truly special goats are. Do your best to reward those who wait with a beautiful doeling to carry on the Doe Code of Honor for the next generation of those who wait!

Millie may be barely able to waddle around anymore but that doesn't mean she has ceased to rule the herd with an iron fist!    She is due June 23rd so could get bigger still before she kids. 

At this point it would not surprise me if she graced us with quads - I'm just hoping if she does they will all be does!

We have decided to retain Millie's grand-daughter Itty-Bitty Blues.   Her sister is more colorful and  friendlier but Itty-Bitty reminds us so much of Millie at that age we just had to keep her.   Wags Ranch MB Azure Mist will be up for sale if Millie gives us a nice doe kid, since we can only keep two if we hope to have room to keep any next year.

And finally, their "big brother" who has now been named Wags Ranch MB Snowflake Jasper is up for sale as a buckling.   His dam, Wags Ranch SM Rita, has such a beautiful udder and is milking so well that I'm sure he would be of benefit to almost any herd.

Come spend an afternoon asking questions of  Joan Hicks of Tahoma and Penny Tyler of Tuppence.   Both have over 20 years of experience working with Nigerian Dwarf goats, and both have hands on experience with many of the top show goats in the breed.    In addition, Penny helped to write the ADGA breed standard and was a long-time judge.    Some of the topics covered will include assisting with a difficult birth and judging the merits of your own goats.

Date:  June 4th
Time: 2pm
Location:  Wags Ranch
Cost is $5 per person.
RSVP:  Please RSVP as soon as possible as space is limited!

So I finally got pictures taken of Rita's udder.  In this picture she is 12 hours in milk and 4 weeks fresh.  She continues to produce very well on the milk stand and today she even jumped up on her own for the first time!  

I am planning on running some milk samples up to Willamette DHIA in Salem this coming week as I'm very curious what her butterfat amount is.  And of course I will also test Mame' and Tsunami's milk at the same time.

And speaking of Mame' and Tsunami, their boys were moved over to the spare pen next to the bucks this morning so there is a whole lot of crying going on.   Tsunami's boys have a buyer coming this afternoon and Mame's boys are also up for sale as wethers.

I started milking Rita this past Sunday and have been so thrilled with the results!  Her udder is incredibly soft with good attachment, her teats are surprisingly long for a first timer, and this morning she gave me a quart of milk.  (Didn't weigh it but that should be a little over 2lbs).  And while Mame' is still "my girl", I am udderly in love with Rita's udder.  :)   She is out of Millie & Sunny and I will definitely be repeating that breeding next season!

I would love to show you pictures of her udder, and her triplets, along with all the other babies but my computer is on its last legs and has stopped talking to my camera, printer and most of the software on it.   I've been babying it along for two years now, but not talking to my camera was the last straw and a new one is on its way.   So as soon as everything is functioning again trust me there will be pictures!

Today we picked up Northern Fork WP Sparky Joe from North Fork Nigerians in Lyons. 

This handsome year old fellow has blue eyes and is polled.  But he has the bad habit of jumping fences.  I am hoping to be able to break him of that bad habit, or at least figure out a workable solution to keep him where he is supposed to be.

In other news, my computer is dying and is no longer "talking to my camera" and barely managing the most basic of functions.   A new computer has been ordered to replace this 7 yr old one and should be here in a couple of weeks and then I will be back to posting pictures.

Last night was a crazy night!  Bekah went to lock up for the night and came running back to the house to announce that two of the babies were missing!!  Apparently,  Rita hid two of her three kids out in the pasture and we had to search for them by flashlight.    I eventually found them snuggled together at the base of a tree.  We got them up to the barn, but couldn't catch Rita and they are too young to go a whole night by themselves yet.   I finally managed to catch her shortly before 2am this morning.  I don't know why just those two were hidden and her itty-bitty first born was with her, nor why she even took them down to the lower pasture.   Most of the other does stick close to the barn for the first week or two after they kid, but then Rita has always been a very independent minded girl just like her dam.   Needless to say she is getting locked up tonight before sundown!